White balance is one of the important distinctions between digital photography and film photography. In digital photography, white balance is critical. It can make or break your picture as much as proper focus and lighting. The wrong setting can cast an ugly tint or cast to the image that distorts natural colors.
Incorrect white balance can be very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to fix after the fact. Most people find green or red tinted skin tones quite unflattering. And dull, muddy skies and murky yellow whites don't do much for your digital prints. It's best to get the white balance right when taking the picture rather than tring to fix it later.
Portrait is defined as, “A likeness of a person, especially one showing the face, that is created by a painter or photographer, for example.” In the area of portrait photography there are some guidelines that you should consider when you go to take photos of people.
The different types of portraits are: close-ups, facial shots, upper body shots or environmental portraits. Environmental portraits are where you focus on the subject and on their surroundings that provide more character to the subject.
When people have a camera in their face it usually makes them nervous and they will try to put on a face that does not portray who they really are. The real skill to portrait photography is trying to capture photos when the subjects are comfortable and not worried about a camera.
BE SELECTIVE. In a field, garden or flower show , there is an enormous number of beautiful flowers. Don’t rush to photograph the first blossom you see. Find a plant with the best combination of form, color, lighting and background.
ISOLATION. For impact, isolate your subject. Find a camera angle that minimizes distracting elements, such as other flowers or spectators. Take the time to try low angles, high angles, or moving to the right or left. A wide lens aperture ( a lower-numbered f-stop on and SLR camera) will enhance this effect by softening the background.
COMPOSITION. Pay attention to the position of your subject in the viewfinder. Putting the subject in the dead-center of the picture is often the first instinct, but is not always the most aesthetic composition. Concentrate on what you see in the viewfinder, and recompose the picture until it looks the best to you. And don’t forget to try vertical framing, as well as horizontal.
The USB Connector (Universal Serial Bus) port allows you to connect the camera to a computer, so that you can download your photographs.
The image you see in the camera viewfinder is that which will be captured with the widest aperture. Since a smaller aperture increases image sharpness there is a discrepancy between the sharpness seen in the viewfinder and in the final photo. The Depth-of-Field button allows you to see how much of the image will be in focus when you take your shot.
If you’re new to photography, you may be struggling with some of the terms used in the industry. Well, one of the most fundamental principles in photography is that of shutter speed. Learning to control the shutter speed is critical to taking good pictures. This article will highlight 5 important facts about shutter speed, which you must understand to take good photographs in a wide range of conditions.
Have you ever been in an museum, art gallery or cathedral and wished you could shoot some pictures of their interiors? I was once in the Vatican in Rome and I was mesmerized by the sweeping ceilings, majestic interiors, stained glass and ancient pillars. Taking good photos of such environments requires some skill, usually because of tricky lighting. In this article, we'll explore some ways of taking good shots in a museum or cathedral setting.
Get a Good External Flash If you use a standard point-and-shoot with a built-in flash, you'll soon realize that its not sufficient for these type of photographs. Hence, the number one tip I can give about taking good pictures inside museums or cathedrals? Get a good external flash unit.
Good enthusiast digital cameras (e.g. the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20) will have a hot shoe onto which you can fit an external flash. An external flash unit allows you to throw light 75 feet away, and are much better for illuminating scenes like this.
Printing on canvas is incredibly versatile and a great way to create a ready-to-hang image or artwork. Every canvas that we print is protected with a UV coated acrylic finish to guard the print from dust, moisture and fading. Do you want your canvas stretched on bars or non-stretched? Framed or unframed? Customize the work to make it truly your own.
Nowadays just about anyone can take a good quality photographs with a digital camera. Or take a few hundred pictures and the chances are few will be good, and even one or two outstanding.
Here are a few tips, tricks and techniques on how to make art print poster ready photographs and print ready digital files. Don’t get overwhelmed, there is a lot of information here, but a lot of it is just intuitive. Well, a bit of patience will always help.
First thing – Photo Size
If you taking a digital photo of you family or friend the largest size you would print is usually 5 by 7 inches, maybe 8 by 10 at the most. Even small size digital photographs (2MB or less) are ‘good enough’ to create a decent print. But if you want to create prints that are 16 by 20, 20 by 24 inches or larger you need more pixels (in pixels 20 by 24 inches photo is actually about 40 times larger than 3 by 4 inches photo assuming they have the same resolution).
Watercolor is an easy, fun medium for creating art. Color theory, composition and design can be explored freely with watercolor paint, paper, and brushes. Several techniques may be used with watercolors for varying effects including painting wet on wet, wet on dry, layering washes, and more.
Watercolor paper comes in cold press, hot press, and rough. Rough paper has the most texture, and its hills and valleys can result in interesting effects when paint is added. Hot press is the smoothest and has the finest texture. Cold press has a moderate amount of texture and is the paper most commonly chosen by watercolor artists.
Watercolor paper comes in several weights ranging from 90 lb. to 300 lb. based on the pounds per ream of paper. Most artists prefer to use at least 140 lb. paper. Papers vary somewhat between manufacturers, so sampling different papers is advisable. Paper can be purchased in pads, in blocks or in large sheets. The large sheets are usually the most economical and can be torn into whatever size is desired.
Photo and Art Information 
Portrait is defined as, “A likeness of a person, especially one showing the face, that is created by a painter or photographer, for example.” In the area of portrait photography there are some guidelines that you should consider when you go to take photos of people. 
BE SELECTIVE. In a field, garden or flower show , there is an enormous number of beautiful flowers. Don’t rush to photograph the first blossom you see. Find a plant with the best combination of form, color, lighting and background. 
If you’re new to photography, you may be struggling with some of the terms used in the industry. Well, one of the most fundamental principles in photography is that of shutter speed. Learning to control the shutter speed is critical to taking good pictures. This article will highlight 5 important facts about shutter speed, which you must understand to take good photographs in a wide range of conditions. 
Have you ever been in an museum, art gallery or cathedral and wished you could shoot some pictures of their interiors? I was once in the Vatican in Rome and I was mesmerized by the sweeping ceilings, majestic interiors, stained glass and ancient pillars. Taking good photos of such environments requires some skill, usually because of tricky lighting. In this article, we'll explore some ways of taking good shots in a museum or cathedral setting.